


Not according to plans

by Hopeful_Foolx



Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fluff, I'm Sorry William Shakespeare, This should be happy but is somehow sad in between so happy birthday I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeful_Foolx/pseuds/Hopeful_Foolx
Summary: Hugh wants to reconnect with an old friend, but gets interrupted. Tragically, of course.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Not according to plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ailendolin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/gifts).



> So, this is a gift for @Ailendolin because HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope you'll have a great day and I am very glad I got to meet you (virtually) and want to thank you for always being there <3 I hope that you'll like this! (This is not part of the HughCrew birthday exchange, you would have gotten this in any way. Of course it still is related to the HughCrew because everything is, but not in that way) (also, I hope I didn't screw up the publification date, I tried to make it the 23rd so it will appear then, but I don't know if it works)

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I know I haven’t been talking to you a lot lately. But there has been a lot going on, you need to know. Even getting you here was quite an adventure. My whole life has been that in the last two weeks. I did miss you, of course, I’m glad you’re here now”

There is no answer, but Hugh doesn’t expect one. 

“The romulans took over the Artifact, I told you about the Zhat-Vash-Tal-Shiar-problem before, but you won’t remember that. So, they…” He sits down on the chair on the other side of the table, folding his hands. It’s not an office, he doesn’t have an office anymore, he isn’t a director anymore, it’s just a room and he is just Hugh, but it gives him some sort of professionalism to treat it like more than it is. It’s comforting, somehow. As is talking like this.

“They…” he can’t say it. As much as he tries, he can’t, “I nearly got killed, too. But here I am, still alive” That he doesn’t get an answer is even more prominent now. Sometimes it’s just about talking, and sometimes, like now, he wishes he would say something in return. He doesn’t, “Just like… always” His voice gets quieter as he says the last part. 

“I don’t even know where to begin. My feeling about Dr. Asha turned our to be right after all, something was up with her. Which lead to a whole city of synths, and to death and destruction, to Admiral Picard. Who died and is now… In a different body that looks the same.” All of it sounds insane, “And we have a friend now! His name is Elnor, he is a Romulan and… He saved my life. Together with Seven of Nine, you won’t remember her either. He is always telling the truth, which could be annoying, what was it called - absolute candor? Well, it’s a refreshing change from all the secrets and lies we always had on the Artifact before. But talking about the Artifact, you can’t imagine how relieved I was, when I found out you were still there. And alive!” He leans forward, resting his chin on his intertwined hands. 

“That’s more than most of the beings I care about are” He sighs deeply, “but I’ve been here before, and so… we’ll just do it again” 

“Who are you talking to?” He sits up immediately. From everyone who could come in unexpected, it has to be Seven of Nine? He doesn’t know how to explain now, and what and...

“Is that a fishbowl?”

“Yes… What do you need?” It’s not that he wants to be rude, on the contrary, but he also fears a discussion he really, really doesn’t want to have. Not now, not ever. Nobody needs to know about Will. 

“Picard and the kid have been looking for you - did you talk to your fish?” She crosses her arms, right as Elnor and Picard enter. Great. Why. Why, why today of all days, he just wants to talk to Will in peace, just a quiet moment, enjoying that not all of his friends are dead, that he got one left and now everyone is here, in his room, interrupting. Of all the times, why now? Can’t he just catch a break for once? Just once?

“A fish? What fish? Swordfish?” He can’t really resist a curious Elnor, not if he wants to, never. Not even now.

“A goldfish, actually” He admits

“A golden fish?” Elnor leans forward and Hugh gets up and steps away from the table when he sees his face, distorted through the glass. He just hopes Will won’t be traumatized from too many faces, but fish don’t have a big memory capacity anyways, or so he hopes. The Borg never assimilated actual fish, a species similar to them, yes, but not actual fish. Maybe they should have, he muses, no drowning incidents anymore. But they were far from perfect, for as much as they tried to be.

“It’s just the name, he’s a really normal earth-fish. Doesn’t harm anyone, just swims in circles and kept me company on the Artifact”

“I think it’s more of an orange than golden” Hugh actually wants to answer Elnor because he is the only one not making a really big deal out of it, the only one who doesn’t act like Hugh is seemingly crazy. He can’t, however, because Seven steps forward. Even Picard has a very strange look on his face now and Hugh would call it worry, if… No, he doesn’t know better.

“Can we get back on track? Hugh, are you talking to a fish?” The way Seven asks makes it clear that she doesn’t need clarification, that she actually asks why he is doing that, not doubting he is. He can’t answer her question, though. He can’t answer why he is talking to a fish, except that he does it and that is that. 

“Yes, Carassius auratus, but I call him Will, mostly” Picard turns around so abruptly Hugh is afraid he’ll fall for a moment,

“Pardon me?” Hugh looks at his fishbowl because yes, his fish is named Will, and it is because of Picard, just that since he never thought he would see the man again, he only ever imagined telling him about it - and not like it is happening now. Not caught in talking to Will, not being glad that of all things and beings his fish survived the artifact. But he is! He is glad that he made sure that there was a lid on the bowl and he is glad that he could get Will here. But nothing goes according to plan lately, has it ever, actually?

“Shakespeare” He finishes when nobody else is saying anything and feels blood rush into his face. William Shakespeare. He read all of his works, he knows Picard enjoys him and always has. Which had been the reason he read the plays and sonnets in the first place, of course. So in case they ever met again, they had a topic to talk about, a way of showing Picard he was worthy of his time. At some point, he realized that he likely wouldn’t meet Picard again, and then, years later, he got the fish and the only actual name he could think of? Hamlet was wrong for a fish. He actually thought about naming his pet after Picard, but that had been so wrong that he needed to sit down when he even thought about him finding out. This is why it became Shakespeare, Will for short. Of course he never forgot about Picard’s number one, but at this point, he had really given up any hope of meeting the crew of the Enterprise again. Geordi, maybe, and he even thought about Picard sometimes. But showing him his office or the Artifact, all of this had been mere dreams. Daydreams even, distracting him from what he had to do and what he had to focus on. Shakespeare became Will, and he got used to talking to Will in the evenings, reading through reports and medical files, reclamation issues and success. He even thought about how he could be (no, definitely had been, no doubt about it) monitored, but what could they do? Call him mad? For talking to a fish? How would that turn out? As with many things, he just didn’t stop out of sheer spite.

“A goldfish… named William Shakespeare?” 

  
“Yes?” 

“Are you alright? Your face is very red” Elnor chimes in unhelpfully, and Hugh doesn’t know if he can turn any redder but if the option exists, he does. 

“It’s not like I imagined… Telling anyone, I have to admit that I didn’t really think about… talking about my fish?” he swallows and actually looks up. He faced the Romulans and the spy that nearly killed him, surely, looking at Picard, Seven and Elnor can’t be too bad now, can it? “I don’t understand why it is such a big… deal. I talked to him a lot and it’s really not a problem. He’s just a fish” 

“Golden fish!” Nobody looks any less worried.

“Because you are talking to a fish, in the evening, in your room. And you just admitted that you did so a lot, that is worrysome” Is it? He still doesn’t get why everyone is making such a big fuss over Will, who just swims peaceful circles in his bowl. 

“I didn’t want to bother anyone else, I mean, not that there was anyone. I  _ was _ the director of the Artifact, in the end. And I did not talk to anyone for most of the day, apart from about reports. So there really weren’t a lot of options. And Will is a very good listener” He is. People can leave, or die, or run away. What is Will supposed to do? Swim away? He replicated a very common fishbowl, so that is not an option, even though there is a holo where fish actually escape from an aquarium - but they have been native to the ocean before, so that doesn’t count. 

“You know that you can talk to people now, right?” His mind keeps wandering away, and he it’s not really easy to focus when Seven reminds him there are still others in the room with him. Ten minutes ago, all had been so peaceful, now he is in the middle of a fish-debate.

“Yes? But I am still fond of him, he’s been with me for quite some time. It did get a little lonely at times, so- oh!” He doesn’t get further because he is caught in what can only be described as a surprise-hug from Elnor.

“Fish can’t do that, right?” A part of him wants to answer that an Octopus might, and that it’s not about physical contact, but the bigger part that just wants to let Elnor have this moment and himself hide from the responsibility of explaining why he called his fish William Shakespeare or why it’s only monologues he had with him, or how he actually liked the idea of just having a silent companion sometimes. Because no, fish can’t do that and as much as he loves Will… Elnor is Elnor.

“No, they can’t” 

**Author's Note:**

> And yes, Picard gets literally one line, this is about the fish.


End file.
